FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga.—Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez continues to carve his name into the league’s record books.

His 99th touchdown reception, which came against Washington, tied him with Don Hutson for eighth on the NFL’s all-time touchdown receptions list.

Washington slowed the Falcons by playing a lot of zone coverage, which provided deep help on receivers Roddy White and Julio Jones. That freed Gonzalez to roam the middle of the field in man-to-man coverage. He amassed 13 catches for 123 yards and a key touchdown in the second quarter.

He finished one pass shy of his career high. He caught 14 passes against San Diego when he was with Kansas City on Jan. 2, 2005.

“When you have guys like Roddy and Julio outside, you saw anytime that we threw the ball deep, there were two or three guys around them,” Gonzalez said. “That means I’m getting man-to-man coverage underneath. I’ve said that for most of my career, if I can get man-to-man coverage, I should be able to get open most of the time.”

The former Cal-Berkeley basketball player looked like he was posting up in the paint on a couple of his grabs.

“I’m just glad I could help out,” Gonzalez said.

Washington became the latest team forced to make a defensive choice on the Falcons’ potent offense. Last week, Carolina elected to double-cover Jones and Gonzalez, allowing White to break loose for eight catches, 169 yards and two touchdowns.

“This is what we envisioned as an offense,” Gonzalez said. “You never know who is going to get it week in and week out.”

Gonzalez, who’s in his 16th year, has said he’s pretty sure he’ll retire after this season. But from this game, it’s clear his skills have not diminished.

“I’ve been thinking about retiring for the last three years,” Gonzalez said. “That’s not the question. I know I can play another two years at a pretty good level. But the window is closing. I’m having a blast. I’m not thinking about it.”

NOTES: Joe Hawley, a backup center and guard by trade, was pressed into fullback duty against the Redskins in the Falcons' “elephant” package. Hawley, who started 12 games last season, was used mostly as a blocker last week against Carolina, but the Falcons actually threw two passes to Hawley against the Redskins. He dropped both of them. With Lousaka Polite recovering from a hamstring injury, the Falcons are thin at fullback.